What standards are there for cancelling posts?
When cancelling your own post, the only standards are the software requirements. Third-party cancels, however, have certain standards that should be followed. There are three main reasons for following these standards when using third-party cancels. First is to identify the canceller, which gives the practice accountability. The second is to make sure that a particular message is only cancelled once. Finally, some news administrators would rather not accept certain cancels, and a standard will allow them to opt out of the system. The first standard is simple to fulfill; all legitimate third- party cancels include an “X-Cancelled-By:” header, containing the email address where the canceller can be contacted. This also implies that the canceller is willing to respond to comments and complaints; if the mail is simply ignored, the canceller is violating this first standard. The second problem is solved much more creatively. The $alz convention (named after Richard Salz, the creator of INN)
